New Wave / Post-Punk

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SODS Live 1979/80 + Rehearsal 1978 (2LP)
SODS Live 1979/80 + Rehearsal 1978 (2LP)Deadly Orgone Sounds
¥6,522

On Live 1979/80 + Rehearsal 1978, SODS are caught mid‑mutation: from Copenhagen’s first feral punk band to the darker, more avant‑garde force that would soon become Sort Sol, in a barrage of raw tapes, sweat and beautiful mistakes. Formed in Copenhagen in 1977, SODS have long been mythologised as Denmark’s first true punk band, but myth usually arrives without tapes. Live 1979/80 + Rehearsal 1978 finally drags that legend back to the concrete floor, offering a sequence of recordings that follow the group from its earliest, ultra‑raw convulsions to the first tremors of transformation into Sort Sol. You can hear how fast things move. In autumn 1978 they record their debut album Minutes to Go, a jagged, adrenal burst that quickly becomes a cornerstone of punk’s primal wave in Scandinavia. By 1980, with the second album Under en Sort Sol, the music is already turning more sombre, stranger at the edges, letting in shadows and a whiff of the avant‑garde. This new release threads those moments together, not as a tidy history lesson but as a sequence of volatile, imperfect performances, all fraying tape hiss and too‑loud PAs. The bulk of the collection is built around live shows from 1979 and 1980, spread across sides A, B and C in strict chronological order. These are rough, spirited performances of pieces mostly drawn from Minutes to Go and Under en Sort Sol, captured in the small Danish venues where SODS’ reputation was forged one flailing body at a time. Songs that on the studio records already sounded urgent here become even more breathless and unhinged: tempos pushed a notch too fast, vocals half‑barked, guitars skidding in and out of tune. The setlists trace the band’s rapid evolution, with the taut, riff‑driven blasts of the early material rubbing shoulders with tracks where atmosphere, dissonance and negative space start to matter as much as attack. Slotted among these is a single piece from Daggers and Guitars - the album that would not surface until 1983 as the first release under the Sort Sol name - heard here in its embryonic, punk‑era incarnation. There is also the “fantastic” outlier “Breathtaking Effect,” a song that, for unfathomable reasons, never found its way onto any original release. In this context it sounds like a missing hinge: catchy yet crooked, a hint of what SODS could have become in alternate timelines. If the live material shows a band learning to stretch inside the constraints of punk, side D rewinds to the moment before all of that solidifies. The final side is an ultra‑raw document of a high‑energy rehearsal from around the spring of 1978, recorded with no intention of polish. The fidelity is primitive, but that’s precisely its power. Here SODS are still figuring out how to play together, hammering at songs that are more attitude than arrangement, yet the chemistry is unmistakable: drums tumbling forward, bass lines trying to hold the floor, guitars sawing at the same two or three chords until they catch fire. It’s punk not as style but as bodily fact, a band using whatever gear and space they can find to force an entirely new noise into existence. Listening back from the vantage point of Sort Sol’s later acclaim, the rehearsal tape feels like the buried root system - gnarled, unpretty, essential. Across its four sides, Live 1979/80 + Rehearsal 1978 works as both archival excavation and still‑living shock. It documents the progression of SODS from feral pioneers to a group already leaning into darker, more idiosyncratic territory, but it never lets that story settle into tidy arcs. Instead, it preserves the grain of moment-to-moment decisions: the singer pushing a phrase too far, the band falling out of sync and clawing its way back, the electricity in a room when an unknown song hits hard enough to turn heads away from the bar. For listeners who came to Sort Sol through their later, more refined work, these tapes offer the jolt of origin, the sound of a band still naming itself through volume and velocity. For everyone else, they’re a reminder that punk’s foundational wave was not only written on records, but in nights like these and rehearsals like that - fleeting, volatile, and, decades later, still stubbornly alive on tape.

V.A. - Japanese Post-Punk, Goth & New Wave, 1980-1991, Pt. II (CS)
V.A. - Japanese Post-Punk, Goth & New Wave, 1980-1991, Pt. II (CS)Death Is Not The End
¥3,135

Another cassette-only mixtape taking in Soviet punk selections, 1985 to 1992, issued in partnership with Philadelphia's World Gone Mad.

V.A. - Japanese Post-Punk, Goth & New Wave, 1980-1991, Pt. I (CS)
V.A. - Japanese Post-Punk, Goth & New Wave, 1980-1991, Pt. I (CS)Death Is Not The End
¥3,135

A special cassette-only Halloween drop in the form of part one of a two-part Japanese post-punk, goth & new wave mixtape, the first in a tranche of globally-focused mixes reissued in partnership with Philadelphia’s punk archivists World Gone Mad.

Circle X - Prehistory (LP)
Circle X - Prehistory (LP)Drag City
¥4,039

Formed in Louisville and forged as a New York–based collective, Circle X were never interested in fitting neatly into scenes or categories. Active between the late 1970s and mid-1990s, they operated with a deliberate refusal of convention, even down to a name that resisted easy transcription.

Prehistory, their debut album, distils that ethos into a dense, physical listening experience. Built from jagged rhythms, looping structures, and a tense balance between raw instinct and considered design, the record stretches the idea of post-punk far beyond stylistic boundaries. The music moves with a damaged, dance-driven momentum, feeling both ritualistic and mechanical, immediate and abstract.

Developed alongside the group’s performance art ideas, the album emerged from experimental recording methods that predated digital sampling: layered tape loops, re-amplified sounds, and textures pushed until their sources dissolved into something new. Influences were equally unorthodox, shaped as much by non-Western orchestration and voice as by the downtown New York underground.

Decades on, Prehistory remains strikingly resistant to nostalgia. Its dark logic and exploratory spirit still confront the listener head-on, sounding no closer to any single moment than it did at the start.

吉野大作&プロスティチュートDaisuck & Prostitute - 死ぬまで踊りつづけて Dance Till You Die (LP)
吉野大作&プロスティチュートDaisuck & Prostitute - 死ぬまで踊りつづけて Dance Till You Die (LP)SPITTLE MADE IN JAPAN
¥4,263

Dance Till You Die is more than just a track title—it’s a loud and clear order, a warning, and a timeless statement from one of the most uncompromising Japanese post-punk outfits of the early 1980s. Emerging from Japan’s underground scene, Daisuck & Prostitute forged a raw yet magnetic sound that blended the abrasive edges of No Wave with an almost ritualistic sense of groove. Dance Till You Die stands as a rare testament to their uncompromising vision: esoteric and challenging, yet undeniably contagious on the dance floor. This newly unearthed gem brings sharp, jagged rhythms, dissonant textures, and a feverish punk urgency together in a way that feels both deeply of its time and eerily timeless. For No Wave obsessives, post-punk devotees, and seekers of obscure underground treasures, Dance Till You Die reaffirms the visceral spirit of a band that refused to compromise or cater to convention. With its intensity undiminished decades later, Dance Till You Die resonates as both an invitation and a provocation: keep moving until the last beat, keep resisting, and keep challenging the boundaries of sound. This release celebrates the survival of radical creativity and provides a crucial document of Japan’s contribution to the explosive worldwide post-punk movement.

Creation Rebel / New Age Steppers - Threat to Creation (LP)
Creation Rebel / New Age Steppers - Threat to Creation (LP)Lantern Rec.
¥3,984
Released on Cherry Red in 1981, Threat To Creation spotted the collaboration between two mystical entities : Creation Rebel and New Age Steppers. Forerunners of the british dub scene the two bands shared several members, a who’s who of the On U-Sound school and key figures of the Bristol and London scene. Adrian Sherwood is – obviously – the man behind the desk a craftsman on its own, a character with no borders and one of the most sought after producer of the time. The supergroup is ran by post-punk stalwarts Bruce Smith (The Pop Group) on drums and Keith Levene (PIL) on guitar. Ari Up of The Slits sits on piano and organ, while masters Crucial Tony is both on bass and guitars. Members of African Head Charge – bass player George Oban, Eskimo Fox and Style Scott on drums – are welcomed addition to the line-up. Threat To Creation is still recognizable as an album ahead of its time, a futuristic blend filling the gap between the Jamaican heritage, the so-called (post) industrial revolution and the studio witchery of the whitey man.
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Clear Vinyl LP)
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Clear Vinyl LP)Vinyl Lovers
¥3,798

LP version on CLEAR vinyl in PVC sleeve with double-sided printed clear plastic insert. CD version is the mini replica of the vinyl version, in slim plastic case with clear insert.

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” should have been the band’s most shining moment…instead it became their tragic swan song. Released just a month after frontman Ian Curtis’ heart wrenching suicide, the song came to be seen as the unheeded warning of the impending tragedy.

This special edition LP features all three versions of the song that transformed Joy Division from mere band into legend. In addition to the original single version, we have two versions remixed by American producers Don Gehman of John Mellencamp fame (the “radio version”) and Arthur Baker (who also produced a hit single for Africa Bambaataa around this same time).

The remaining tracks include “These Days” (which appeared on the original “Love Will Tear Us Apart” single), along with “Transmission” (their debut single released in 1979) and “Atmosphere” (originally released as a France-only single) in 1980.

Alan Vega - Collision Drive (Red Vinyl LP)Alan Vega - Collision Drive (Red Vinyl LP)
Alan Vega - Collision Drive (Red Vinyl LP)Sacred Bones Records
¥3,575

Collision Drive is Alan Vega’s second solo studio album, originally released in 1981. If his debut laid the groundwork for a raw, minimalist take on rockabilly and blues, Collision Drive expands the palette with a grittier, more layered, and unfiltered energy. Here Vega’s lyrics channel universal themes deeply rooted in his fascination with street life, science fiction, politics, comics, love and the mysteries of the universe. It’s a record that pulses with feeling and rebellion, displaying the full spectrum of human experience and Vega’s evolving vision.

Alan was always reinventing himself, creating and refining his mastery of variation while maintaining his own unparalleled and identifiable aesthetic. Sonically, this album is more dynamic than his first. Ditching drum machines for a live drummer, and enlisting a hard rock band to back him, Collision Drive offered a different view of Vega’s artistic vision. The aching punk rockabilly of “Magdalena 82” unfolds with a hypnotic blend of guitar slides and frenetic energy, while Vega’s cover of “Be Bop A Lula” transforms Gene Vincent’s classic into an aggressively charged, manic howl. Elsewhere, tracks like the hard-driving cosmic rock n roll “Raver” push into psychobilly territory. Vega was relentlessly innovative, continuously paving new ground.

Newly remastered by Josh Bonati from the original tapes, Collision Drive receives a reverent reissue from Sacred Bones Records.

Here we witness the full ascension into his own mythology: part rockabilly outlaw, part cosmic preacher, part outsider visionary. Broader in scope than his debut but just as uncompromising, Collision Drive is a bold and personal exploration of sound and identity. Raw, electrifying, and groundbreaking, it remains a cult cornerstone of outsider rock and a touchstone in the evolution of art-punk and experimental pop from one of New York’s most fearless icons.

Alan Vega (Magenta Vinyl LP)Alan Vega (Magenta Vinyl LP)
Alan Vega (Magenta Vinyl LP)Sacred Bones Records
¥3,575

Alan Vega’s self-titled debut solo album was released in 1980 during the same period Suicide released their second album, Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev. While Suicide’s label ZE Records was interested in pushing the duo toward a synthetic disco sound inspired by Moroder’s production on Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” Vega felt a pull in a different direction. He wanted to dig deeper into the roots of his own sonic identity, fueled by rockabilly, early rock n roll, and his enduring love for Elvis Presley. Filling the gaps between recording with Suicide, and fleshing out the songs he was writing on his own, Vega started to create his first record and performing live to develop this sound.

As with his visual art, Vega layered sound in a minimalist, dynamic and intentional way. The result was a fiercely singular album built from raw materials and deeply rooted in Vega’s artistic vision. Tracks like the classic anthem “Jukebox Babe” with its jiving rhythm and minimalist swagger, captured that approach completely and went on to become a hit in France. “Kung Foo Cowboy” takes on a southern twist, strongly leaning into the blues, while the golden pop shine of “Ice Drummer” rings in melodic yet plaintive vocals, marching drums and a tasteful harmonica solo. “Bye Bye Bayou” is a haunted slice of mutant rockabilly that fuses 50s rock with Vega’s eccentric performance style and was later reimagined in the 2009 cover by LCD Soundsystem, introducing Vega’s solo work to a new generation. Similarly, The Flaming Lips’s 1994 cover of “Ice Drummer” paid homage to Vega’s outsider spirit.

Now remastered by Josh Bonati from the original tapes and available on streaming services for the first time, Alan Vega has been faithfully reissued by Sacred Bones Records, preserving the raw intensity of Vega’s original recordings while making them newly accessible to listeners around the world.

Alan Vega is more than a solo debut, it’s a declaration of artistic independence and freedom from one of New York’s most influential and uncompromising artists. Stripped of Suicide’s intense electronics yet retaining Vega’s outsider energy and edge, the album translates early rock 'n roll through an art-punk filter that stands the test of time as a cult masterpiece in its own right.

TVAM - Ruins (Crystal Clear Vinyl LP)TVAM - Ruins (Crystal Clear Vinyl LP)
TVAM - Ruins (Crystal Clear Vinyl LP)INVADA Records UK
¥4,989

The follow-up to 'High Art Lite', 'Ruins' is an album shaped by grief, reflection, and transformation; a record that captures both the weight of loss and the strange beauty that comes with it. Written after a self-imposed break from songwriting, it represents a shift in focus and perspective for Joseph Oxley. “I wanted to step away from what I thought I was supposed to make,” he explains. “The worst advice anyone can give you is, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ It’s always broken. It always needs fixing.” At its core, 'Ruins' explores loss not as emptiness but as presence, something that reshapes the world around you. The album finds Oxley wrestling with the dualities of human experience: the tension between what’s said and unsaid, between humanism and nihilism, public and private, despair and acceptance. “Hope and despair don’t cancel each other out,” he says. “They can co-exist — that’s what makes it feel real.” Somewhere within a lifetime of repeats, reruns, and reboots, TVAM lives, crafting work that touches on our memories while toying with our fears, creating a world in which broadcast becomes performance. Since his debut album 'Psychic Data' burst from a small bedroom studio in Wigan, TVAM has defined the sound and spectacle of nostalgia’s grip on modern life, from the sloganeering of 'Porsche Majeure' to the electioneering of 'Semantics', his music has gained daytime playlisting on BBC 6 Music and has been featured on TV including groundbreaking series Succession. Musically, 'Ruins' is expansive and immersive. Dark but magical, it is filled with reverb-drenched synths, fractured textures and hammer-blow snares. Guitars weave through the mix with a newfound restraint, creating space for atmosphere and emotion to take centre stage. "Broken reality” textures collide with driving rhythms, recalling the cinematic pulse of Floodland-era The Sisters of Mercy, and the melodic melancholy of Disintegration-era The Cure. The result is a record that finds beauty in dissonance and light in the wreckage.

あけぼの印 Akebonojirushi - Paradise Mambo (LP)
あけぼの印 Akebonojirushi - Paradise Mambo (LP)SPITTLE MADE IN JAPAN
¥4,269

Formed in Hakata before relocating to Tokyo in 1984, Akebonojirushi quickly established themselves as one of the most adventurous acts in Japan’s underground music scene. The six-piece band defied easy categorization, blending sharp-edged New Wave textures with the groove and freedom of Funk-Jazz, then distilling it all into daring, unpredictable Pop songs. Originally released in 1987 on the influential DIW label, Paradise Mambo captured the energy of a vibrant era when Japanese musicians were fearlessly expanding the boundaries of sound. Brimming with angular rhythms, infectious basslines, and a playful yet avant-garde spirit, the album remains a shining document of 80s Japanese postmodernism—both accessible and experimental, danceable yet completely uncompromising. Now reintroduced to a new generation of listeners, Paradise Mambo stands not only as a time capsule of the bubbling Tokyo music scene of the late 80s, but also as a timeless example of bold creativity. This reissue shines a spotlight on a band that deserves renewed recognition for their adventurous vision and genre-blurring artistry.

Paris 1942 - Birds In Their Cages (LP)
Paris 1942 - Birds In Their Cages (LP)Superior Viaduct
¥6,764

Birds In Their Cages dives further into the Paris 1942 tape archive. While the main album juxtaposes original compositions with SCG-style group improv, this bonus LP features cover songs and guest sessions that would commonly take place in Moe's living room. Highlights include Srogoncik's bulbous Beefheartian sketch "Berlin Mood" and early Alan Bishop rager "Let's Hop Trains." Side Two opens with a beautifully demented take on VU's "Heroin." Closing the set is a live performance of "White Light/White Heat" from P42's first show, 5-18-1982 at Merlin's, Tempe, AZ.

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The Fall - Grotesque (After The Gramme) (LP)
The Fall - Grotesque (After The Gramme) (LP)Superior Viaduct
¥3,180 ¥4,429

Bella Union are delighted to announce the release of The Fall's ‘Grotesque (After The Gramme) Live!’ - the latest release from POPSTOCK records, which builds on the success of the critically acclaimed ‘Slates Live!’. Sourced, mastered and designed by the musicians who played on the original LP, and with insightful liner notes by Henry Rollins, ‘Grotesque Live’ presents fascinating versions of all the seminal 1980 album tracks. Available on limited edition vinyl, CD and cassette on 25th October.

Yasuaki Shimizu - Kakashi (LP)
Yasuaki Shimizu - Kakashi (LP)Palto Flats
¥4,964
Originally released in 1982, Kakashi is another high water mark in the 80s Japanese underground. This album, which has gathered cult status in recent years, is the project of musical visionary Yasuaki Shimizu, and considered to be a highlight of his solo career. Shimizu was the bandleader of Mariah, who also saw their album Utakata No Hibi reissued by Palto Flats in 2015. Kakashi offers a similar blend of saxophone experimentations, jazz fusion and ambient dub excursions.
Paris 1942 (2LP)
Paris 1942 (2LP)Superior Viaduct
¥5,063

Compiled by Richard Bishop from dozens of tapes, this archival 2xLP features the band's rare EP, most of the Majora LP and 11 previously unheard tracks.

"Difficult as it may be to imagine, there was a time when Sun City Girls did not exist. Prior to the Bishop brothers teaming up with drummer/shaman Charlie Gocher to form SCG's classic trio lineup, there were various ad-hoc assemblages of local Phoenix-area freaks and weirdos – groups which existed only long enough to play a single gig, open mic or house party before disbanding without a trace. Hatched from this milieu was Paris 1942, a short-lived band formed by guitarist Jesse Srogoncik that included Alan Bishop, Richard Bishop and former Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker.

"Paris 1942 would play only four shows in as many months, but between April and August of 1982, the band would gather several times a week in Tucker's living room, where the group feverishly wrote and rehearsed with a kind of quotidian discipline. While P42 didn't release anything during their brief tenure, a 7" EP and LP (both self-titled) surreptitiously surfaced on the Majora label in the mid to late '90s. Until now, those two titles – as well as an appearance on Placebo's Amuck comp in late '82 – would be the only documented evidence that this improbable, serendipitous and magnificent band ever existed.

"While those expecting P42's music to sound like a tantalizing combination of Sun City Girls' iconoclastic hoodoo havoc and the Velvets' primal drug-chug certainly won't be disappointed, Paris 1942 more often than not transcends even these nearly impossible expectations. Srogoncik's songs, in particular, are a revelation, displaying as much in common with the exuberant raunch of The Gun Club and the chapbook punk of Peter Laughner as they do any of the more obvious touchstones.

"The group's foresight to document and capture this meeting of musical minds – a meeting as unlikely as it was short-lived – provides a missing link between the Velvets and the Voidoids, between the Dead Boys and the Dead C, between ESP-Disk' and DNA. Far more than a historical curiosity, Paris 1942 provides a fresh perspective on an embryonic and sadly vanishing US underground. It is music that blinks at the past and anticipates a thousand possible futures."

Bad Brains - Rock For Light (Yellow CS)Bad Brains - Rock For Light (Yellow CS)
Bad Brains - Rock For Light (Yellow CS)Org Music
¥1,854

Vinyl LP pressing. Rock for Light is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. We're proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.

Reducer - Sleng Teng ('86  Discomix Version) (12")
Reducer - Sleng Teng ('86 Discomix Version) (12")Bokeh Versions / RUSS
¥3,893
An alternative sound born in the gap between digital dancehall and the UK underground’s experimental currents. Active in the mid-to-late 1980s and based in Britain, Reducer narrowly missed signing to On-U Sound and left little behind, yet reportedly had Downwards’ Regis enthralled at the time. A legendary post-punk/industrial reggae band, their long-lost recordings finally surface: a powerful three-track single on Bristol’s leftfield institution Bokeh Versions. Included is the 1986 discomix version of the era-defining riddim “Sleng Teng,” radically reimagined. Built around the Casio MT-40 preset that sparked the digital dancehall revolution, these tracks vividly evoke the atmosphere of sound system culture. Repetitive rhythms and low-end sway merge with a contemporary sensibility, preserving the original innovation while extending it into a more elongated, psychedelic form of ecstasy. An essential update to a monument of the digital revolution—indispensable for all devotees of reggae, dub, and dancehall alike.
Babe Roots - Remixes EP (12")Babe Roots - Remixes EP (12")
Babe Roots - Remixes EP (12")ECHOCORD
¥2,754

Following the success of last years Babe Roots EP, Echocord revisits the package with reworks from Forest Drive West, Mike Schommer, Felix K, DB1 and Babe Roots themself.

London’s DB1 leads the package with his take on ‘Work Hard’, a mostly beatless interpretation fuelled by oscillating white noise, winding dub chords and snippets of the original’s dub reggae vocals. Hidden Hawai’s Felix K then ups the energy levels with a high-octane take on ‘Sufferation Time’, driven by upfront, shuffled and distorted drums and unfaltering, tension building dub swells.

The hotly tipped Forest Drive West steps up next to remix ‘Jah Nuh Dead’, a typically classy reimagining from the Livity Sound artist, stipping things back to ethereal pads, off-kilter percussion and sporadic echoes of the original composition. Former Deepchord member Mike Schommer’s take on ‘Bless Me’ follows, the pioneer of contemporary dub techno delivers a cinematic rework employing sweeping voices, glitched out electronics and resonant swells alongside the bouncy dub reggae groove of the original.

Lastly Babe Roots revisit one of their own compositions, ‘Sufferation Time’, delivering a more refined feel this time round with more impetus on drums and dark, hypnotic synths to contrast the original’s more vocal focused feel.

Alan Vega - Alan Vega (Deluxe Remastered Edition) (Ice Blue Vinyl 2LP)Alan Vega - Alan Vega (Deluxe Remastered Edition) (Ice Blue Vinyl 2LP)
Alan Vega - Alan Vega (Deluxe Remastered Edition) (Ice Blue Vinyl 2LP)Sacred Bones Records
¥4,763

Alan Vega’s self-titled debut solo album, originally released in 1980, marked a bold new chapter for one of New York’s most influential and uncompromising voices.

On his solo debut, Vega dove headfirst into the roots of his personal sound, fueled by blues, rockabilly, and his enduring love for Elvis Presley. Stripped of Suicide’s confrontational electronics but retaining Vega’s outsider energy and voice, the album translates early rock 'n roll through an art-punk filter and stands as a cult masterpiece in its own right. Minimalist, haunting, and deeply personal, it carved out a unique place in the underground canon.

Now available as a limited deluxe double LP edition, this definitive reissue pairs the newly remastered original album with a second disc of previously unheard early demos, offering a rare glimpse into the raw creative process behind this cult classic, and alternate artwork exclusive to this pressing. Alan Vega Deluxe Edition is a companion piece that sheds new light on Vega’s process and vision during this pivotal era, making it a must-have for collectors and longtime fans.

Mariah - Utakata No Hibi (2LP)Mariah - Utakata No Hibi (2LP)
Mariah - Utakata No Hibi (2LP)Everland Music
¥6,777

A legendary yet long lost crown jewel from the early 80s
Japanese Electronic and Jazz Rock scene.

MARIAH used to be a Japanese outfit in the field of art pop, long way back in the very late 70s and early 80s with 6 albums up
their score from 1979 to 1983. The album at hand is the sixth and for the time being last album in this row, released as a double
vinyl back in 1983. Prices for original copies, that are at least in very good condition, are hard to find and go up to 250 Euro/USD.
The brandnew reissue on Everland, unlike the original and the first vinyl reissue from 2015, comes housed in a thick and artfully
designed gatefold sleeve with OBI, which finally does justice to the progressive spirit of the music you can find here.
The musical basement is a fusion of dreamy synthesizer pop and haunting new wave music, that could be found all around
the globe back in 1983. In the vein of TEARS FOR FEARS or more adventurous DAVID BOWIE stuff, with a touch of KRAFTWERK or
even BRIAN ENO here and there, but all this gets spiced up with an atmosphere of Japanese traditionalism, with a few bits and
pieces from the old music from this Far East island, which sounds so magic us Westeners. The progressive, wacky art pop of this
project was led by the popular Japanese composer and musician Yasuaki Shimizu, a relentlessly exploratory saxophonist who
even dared to rework Johann Sebastian Bach’s cello suites for saxophone.
As brilliant as this man is, the music on „Utakata No Hibi“ turns out to be. And the master himself approved and much
appreciated the brandnew remastering of this album by assisting a highly professional team of sound engineers who dusted off
the ancient tape reels. For certain the record sounds and feels 80s through and through, electronic to the very rhythmical bone
of each song sugar coated with catchy melodies that resemble Japanese classic and Enka music, which is a kind of folksy pop
music. The listener gets directly drawn into a feverish dream of steaming Far Eastern cities and their darkest and most depraved
corners where you find everything cheap in sleazy bars and unlighted backyards and alleys. The next moment he strolls through
a beautiful Japanese park surrounded by a sea of blossoms. This change in mood and style you will experience in the sparsely
instrumented tune „Shisen“, which indeed comes closest to classic Japanese folk tunes without any too catchy and pop oriented
melodies. But we certainly find these harmonies allover the album. Some tunes even feel like ancient BEACH BOYS compositions
and Brian Wilson creations played by a then contemporary electronic pop act and sung in Japanese.
An amazingly colorful album with songs that are based on solid substance rather than cheap pop structures. This is music for
the bold listeners and music lovers and this awesome reissue should quickly find it’s way into the record collections of 80s synth
and art pop aficionadoes.
Yasuaki Shimizu did what he wanted with MARIAH, pushed the borders of popular music further than anybody would have
thought. Listen to a track like „Shonen“ with a repetitive rhythm pattern that hypnotizes you and somehow silky melodylines by
saxophone and synth piano upon which a female voice sings in a very spiritual way. Praising pop or whatever this can be called,
it is sheer magic put in music. I wonder if this would have made it into the charts back then, but you never know. It is a piece of
musical art that shall be listened to. 

Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X (CS)Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X (CS)
Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X (CS)ROUGH TRADE
¥2,200

The Demise of Planet X is Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson’s most expansive and ambitious release to date as Sleaford Mods. Boasting the duo’s most varied and expressive musical approach so far, it charts, critiques and satirises our times, while offering a universal cry of anger and release of energy that pushes against the encroaching cultural darkness.

Contemplating the world coming to an end not with a big bang but in slowly rising tide of irritating mundanity, The Demise Of Planet X strikes back with vivid sonics, acerbic words, enveloping atmospheres and a engaging wit across 13 tracks that will move hearts, minds and feet.

The album features a rare guest appearance from former Life Without Buildings frontwoman Sue Tompkins, plus collaborations with Aldous Harding, soul singer Liam Bailey and grime MC Snowy, the latter two both hailing from band’s hometown Nottingham. In her first foray into music, actress Gwendoline Christie (Wednesday/ Severance/ Game Of Thrones) also joins Midlands band Big Special on Sleaford Mods new single The Good Life, which is released today accompanied by a video directed by Ben Wheatley (The Kill List/A Field In England/Bulk).

‘“The Demise Of Planet X’ represents a life lived under immense uncertainty, shaped by mass trauma,” declares frontman Jason Williamson. “When we wrote the last album, it was about stagnation, a country that felt like a lifeless corpse. Three years later, that corpse has been split open by war, genocide, and the lingering psychological fallout of Covid whilst social media has mutated into a grotesque, twisted form of digital engineering. It feels like we’re living among the ruins. A multi-layered abomination etched into our collective psyche.”

Bad Brains (Banana Peel Vinyl LP)
Bad Brains (Banana Peel Vinyl LP)Org Music
¥4,469

Bad Brains is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on (then) cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of it's yellow packaging. Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song Black Dots album in 1979 and the 5-song Omega Sessions EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single. The release includes the original liner notes by Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo. This reissue marks the second release in the remaster campaign on the band's own Bad Brains Records imprint with Org Music. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering.

Jah Wobble - Bedroom Album (LP)
Jah Wobble - Bedroom Album (LP)SPITTLE RECORDS
¥3,438

roduced and engineered by Jah Wobble at home in his bedroom (hence the title), the album was originally released in spring 1983, showing a different side in the bass player evolution. His proper 2nd album after a major label stint with Virgin - for his debut - and the stratospheric collaborations with Holger Czukay & The Edge. A mystical hybrid of dub fusion, ethereal wave and global beat, still ahead of his time.

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